On This Day: Muhammad Ali beats Henry Cooper in London

May 21: British legend Henry Cooper, the first man to knock boxing great Muhammad Ali down, was beaten by the American on this day in 1966 following a rematch.

Ali - called Cassius Clay when he first fought Cooper in 1963 - returned to London after becoming heavyweight champion, converting to Islam and changing his name.

The American hoped the bout would lead to a more convincing victory after Cooper had previously felled him with his famous ‘Enry’s ‘Ammer left-hook.

[On This Day: Boxing legend Joe 'Brown Bomber' Louis passes away]

On that occasion, Ali’s manager had also been accused of using smelling salts to revive the young boxer and tried to delay the match until he had recovered.

But Londoner Cooper's hopes of bringing the title back to Britain were dashed in the sixth round after a deep gash over his left eye forced the referee stopped the fight.

Yet the occasion – watched by 40,000 fans in Arsenal’s former stadium at Highbury – still became a legendary spectacle as one of Ali’s few UK bouts.

The charismatic boxer, who was voted BBC Sports Personality of the Century in 1999, was famed as much for his quick wit as his fast punches.

[On This Day: Sir Roger Bannister breaks four-minute mile]

Yet, as this British Pathé footage shows, it was surprising that Ali – who the reporter still referred to as Cassius Clay – failed to say a word when he arrived at Heathrow.

But the star was soon back on form, with lyrical quips such as “I'm so mean I make medicine sick” and “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee”.

On This Day: FA Cup Final is first football match held at Wembley Stadium

In 1967, he was both vilified and admired when he refused to be conscripted and fight in the Vietnam War on both religious and political grounds.

Ali, who is seriously ill with Parkinson’s disease, was stripped of his title and spent four years fighting the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn his boxing ban.

The 71-year-old, who also claimed to have thrown his Olympic gold medal in a river after a racist incident, went on to win the world championship two more times.

Cooper, who went on to become a popular TV and radio personality, died aged 76 in 2011.